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Kids wait in -28 C cold for Okanagan school bus that never came

Route 42 was cancelled, but some had no notification

Bundled up against -28 degree Celsius weather, students in Cherryville waited for the bus Friday morning.

But the bus never came.

It was cancelled at short notice due to weather-related mechanical problems, according to Adrian Johnson, Vernon School District secretary-treasurer.

It was the only route, out of 30, that didnsa国际传媒檛 make it out in the frigid temperatures.

A testament considering, as Johnson points out, several school districts in B.C. cancelled all bus routes Friday due to the exceptionally cold weather.

But several parents in Cherryville arensa国际传媒檛 impressed with how it was handled.

Charlie Redstone drove her son to the bus stop that morning and waited due to the temperatures.

They waited 10 minutes before another Cherryville resident drove past and said the bus wasnsa国际传媒檛 coming.

sa国际传媒淎ll I could think was, what if the kids had walked and stood there waiting? This is frostbite temps,sa国际传媒 said the concerned mother.

Some parents got a phone call shortly after 7 a.m. alerting them to the bus issue.

But Redstone and others never did.

sa国际传媒淭he transportation team promptly notified schools and posted the cancellation on the school district and school websites, Facebook and Twitter,sa国际传媒 said Johnson. sa国际传媒淚n addition, with the limited time available, the transportation team were able to contact families of 32 of the 64 impacted students.

sa国际传媒淲e strive to ensure that no student waits for a bus that isnsa国际传媒檛 going to arrive, particularly in these frigid temperatures.sa国际传媒

Johnson says staff have debriefed to identify why they were unable to contact all the impacted families.

sa国际传媒淲e are revising internal procedures to find ways to directly and promptly contact all impacted families should this occur in the future.sa国际传媒

Redstone and some of the other families who werensa国际传媒檛 notified are frustrated with the system.

sa国际传媒淭he bus stop is two kilometres away. We have to drive him in winter and when the bears wake up. Other kids have in the past been stalked by cougars and coyotes,sa国际传媒 said Redstone, who, with her husband, normally drops her son off on her way to work. sa国际传媒淚t was so cold this morning that we stayed and waited with him.sa国际传媒

An Enderby parent says the North Okanagan-Shuswap school district has an app that her daughter can check on her phone. But even when it was far less cold earlier this week, she received a phone call to say the bus was running 15 minutes late.

sa国际传媒淚f they can call parents surrounding Enderby (and seriously, there are so many automated systems), they can call Cherryville parents, too,sa国际传媒 said Sarah Dev.

A Lumby mom points out that social media posts arensa国际传媒檛 the best way to reach busy parents struggling to get all the kids, and themselves, out the door on time.

sa国际传媒淣ot all parents do social media. So how are they supposed to know?sa国际传媒 Karen Prebushewski said. sa国际传媒淥ur bus route posted it was going to be late after we had already left the house for the bus.sa国际传媒

Another Lumby parent was told an app similar to Enderbysa国际传媒檚 was being created for parents to track the busses.

She asked the districtsa国际传媒檚 transportation services about it in October and was told it would be up sa国际传媒渉opefully by the end of this month.sa国际传媒

sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 now January and still nothing,sa国际传媒 said Lyndsay Turnbull.

Johnson confirms there is something in the works and further information will be provided at a later date.

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Jennifer Smith

About the Author: Jennifer Smith

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